READ COMICS ONLINE! This is DISSECTICIDE...

THE BODY HORRORS OF DISSECTICE

READ COMICS ONLINE! “DISSECTICIDE”
is the strange tale of a young painter who suddenly finds himself
dealing with artists block. Despite serious deadlines, the pressures
of success and a productive past the character continually battles
with trivial distractions effectively painting himself into a
desperate situation. With only a few days to go before his next big
solo gallery exhibition the artist decides to lock himself away in
the studio. In order to keep focused he disconnects the internet,
removes all his devices ( phones & video games) and even
dedicates his stomach to a mild bit of fasting. However, no matter
how hard he tries to escape from material diversions it seems to be
impossible for him to escape from his own mind. As he ponders the
blank canvas his true self, his motives and his attitudes creep up
from the unconscious to challenge him in a way no artwork ever could.

“DISSECTICIDE” is part of a trilogy
of body horror graphic novels that I wrote over the winter of 2012-13. I wanted
to do three parodies of the arts looking at film, music and in this
case fine artworks in order to examine both the positive and negative
influences they have on our lives. All of these stories will be featured on the read comics online pages of this site. At the time I was writing this
book I was having a lot of trouble dealing with the superficiality of
the art world. As an art student I had been much more optimistic
about art as a social political vehicle as many people at that age
are strong willed activists who are still willing to spill their own
blood for a good protest. However as time passed I became
increasingly disillusioned by the increasing number of glamour
seeking fine artists. It seemed to me that the work which was being
produced successfully ( both financially and in recognition) was far
more celebratory of commercial pop culture and of
virtually no critical value or interest. In many respects the work was little
more than intricate escapism and glistening denial.

At any rate my concerns regarding the
demise of art as an intellectual practice basically sent me into a
state of distracted artist block like the one featured in this story.
For a few months I basically didn't draw anything unless there was a
commission already in place. When I started putting this book
together it was my intention to examine my psychological state of
despair but oddly enough I had no idea were the fable would lead me.
The adventure was extremely cathartic and set me to work with a
vigour I'd recently forgotten. With each new page my love of drawing,
and comic books in particular, was renewed. By the time I'd completed
the book I felt as though I got a number of bad ideas out of me and
onto the paper in a way that is far more uplifting , fun and positive
than I imagined when I began. After publishing the book I felt free
from my art world squabbles and was ready to move on to more
important topics in my next surreal tale.